NASA EGS, Jacobs preparing SLS Core Stage for Artemis 1 stacking
May 6, 2021
The Core Stage of NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and was moved into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on April 29. The stage is now in the hands of KSC’s Exploration Ground System (EGS) program and prime test operations and support contractor (TOSC) Jacobs.
The long-awaited milestone allows EGS and Jacobs to work towards putting the whole Orion/SLS vehicle together and beginning months of testing to get it ready for the launch of Artemis 1. The stage is now in the low bay of the VAB, where some “traveled” work from the recently-completed Green Run design verification campaign will be performed in parallel with preparations for stacking with the new launch vehicle’s Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB), which are already in place on the Mobile Launcher in VAB High Bay 3.
Ten month schedule to ready SLS for Artemis 1 launch after Core Stage arrives at KSC
May 3, 2021
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program is looking at a wide range of forecasts for when they can complete testing necessary to be ready to launch Artemis 1. The Core Stage of NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle arrived at the Kennedy Space Center and was moved into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on April 29 to prep for stacking with the new launch vehicle’s Solid Rocket Boosters, which are already in place on the Mobile Launcher in High Bay 3.
Approximately six months of work is anticipated to finish assembly and complete a long series of tests and checkouts of SLS and the Orion spacecraft it will send to the Moon, but current forecasts of this first-time integration work estimate closer to ten months to complete the necessary operations. After the vehicle is put together, weeks and weeks of testing to make sure SLS and Orion are properly talking to each